[NYTr] Hugo Chavez Welcomes Sean Penn to Venezuela
 
Date: Thu, 2 Aug 2007 16:27:35 -0500 (CDT)


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AFP via CBN ANs-News - August 2, 2007
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryId=86821

Chavez welcomes Sean Penn to Venezuela

CARACAS - Hollywood star and activist Sean Penn was welcomed Wednesday
to Venezuela by President Hugo Chavez, who shares the US actor's strong
criticism of US President George W. Bush's foreign policy.

"Sean Penn is in Venezuela," Chavez said over national television. "I
spoke with him by telephone and will see him" on Thursday.

"He came by himself on a commercial airliner," he said. On Tuesday,
Penn "walked the neighborhoods of Caracas," Chavez said.

He said that on Thursday, the 2003 Oscar-winning actor of "Mystic
River" visited Barlovento, 100 kilometers east of Caracas.

Penn "is moved by his conscience, in search of new pathways," Chavez
said.

Chavez read part of an open letter Penn sent to Bush, in which he
criticized the war in Iraq, and said Penn "is well informed about what
goes on in the United States and in the world, despite being in
Hollywood."

"He is not a man who lives in poverty -- we can imagine his income --
but is involved in social action."

Chavez also recently welcomed US actor Danny Glover to Venezuela and
gave him 18 million dollars to finance a film on Haitian independence
leader Toussaint Louverture.

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AP via International Herald Tribune - August 1, 2007
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/08/02/arts/LA-A-E-CEL-Venezuela-Sean-Penn.php

Venezuela's Chavez praises Sean Penn for critical stance on Bush

CARACAS, Venezuela: Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez praised American
actor Sean Penn on Wednesday for his critical stance against the war in
Iraq, saying the two chatted by phone and soon plan to meet in person.

Chavez said Penn traveled to Venezuela this week wanting to learn more
about the situation in the country and walked around some of Caracas'
poor barrios on his own.

"Welcome to Venezuela, Mr. Penn. What drives him is conciousness, the
search for new paths," Chavez said in a televised speech. "He's one of
the greatest opponents of the Iraq invasion."

Chavez read aloud from a recent open letter by Penn to U.S. President
George W. Bush in which the actor condemned the Iraq war and called for
Bush to be impeached, saying the president along with Vice President
Dick Cheney and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice are "villainously
and criminally obscene people."

The socialist president, who shares those views, said he and Penn
talked by phone ? "with my bad English but we understood each other
more or less."

Chavez said the two plan to meet on Thursday. He called the actor
"well-informed about what is happening in the United States and the
world, in spite of being in Hollywood."

What's more, Chavez said, "he's made great films." The Venezuelan
leader said he recently watched Penn's Oscar-winning performance in the
film "Mystic River."

For his part, Penn on Wednesday toured the country's new film studios
on the outskirts of Caracas.

Penn, whose visit was unannounced, did not speak publicly.
 
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